Various utilitarian implements for powered work machines such as tractors, skid steer loaders, combines, excavating machines, bulldozers, front end loaders, etc. are well known. Typical tasks performed by such work machines include construction, digging, grading, excavating, etc. Exemplary attachments for these vehicles include buckets, scoops, forks, front-end loaders, dozer blades, plows, landscaping implements, trenchers, toothbars, brooms, rakes, tillers, backhoes, and other material-handling and general application tools.
The interchangeability of these implements on a single work machine is generally desirable in order to enhance the versatility of these machines. Accordingly, quick attachment mechanisms for mounting and dismounting such implements have been developed to facilitate this interchangeability.
However, conventional quick attachment designs generally do not allow for the tilting of the implement about a horizontal axis during operation. Such tilting can be desirable, where, for example, the work machine encounters uneven terrain, or where the operation to be carried out by the implement would be facilitated were the implement capable of being tilted. Attachment mechanisms that do allow for tilting suffer from other drawbacks, such as complicated and expensive designs, inability to support heavy loads, etc.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an attachment assembly for work machines that is inexpensive, easy to operate, is a compact and simplified design, and allows for tilting about a longitudinal axis of the work machine to which the implement is attached.